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TITLE: To Serve A Queen - Part Eight
SUMMARY: His choice. Her loss.
PAIRING: Ronan/Weir, implied Sheppard/Teyla
RATING: R
NOTES: Okay, in the grand scheme of this story, I am one scene short of a finish - about 3000 words. In posting terms, that means there are about another eight or nine chapters still to post. There's some history in this part, a lot of John&Elizabeth interaction, Teyla teases Liz and Liz prods Teyla, I bring in assorted guest characters and we're all happy campers. Okay, so maybe not so much.
Part Seven
To Serve A Queen - Part Eight
"Tyrus isn't enjoying Prince Dex's courtesies to Sora," John observed in a quiet moment during the evening party.
Elizabeth shifted her shoulders a little, not entirely comfortable with the dress, the gathering, or the sight of the tall, dark Warlord Prince talking easily to the Gennii Queen. Two days of the Gennii visit and that had become a common occurrence. Now, if only she could innure herself to the sight of it.
"That's not surprising," she said. "Remember my father when we were in Cheyanne Territory?"
"Of course," John said. "I remember your father in all his moods. Especially when he was annoyed - usually because you'd led Rodney and I on one of your escapades and we got in trouble for it."
Elizabeth nodded at another aristo couple who passed her and John. A nod without a warm smile of pleasure meant 'don't approach me, I'm having a private conversation with my First Escort.'
She snorted softly. "That was a long time ago."
"Only as long ago as the the tour," he pointed out. "And your father was watchful of the boys in the other Territories, but he wasn't hostile."
True. But then her father had trusted her judgement - and the abilities of the Queen in those Territories to rein in their males.
She supposed she should be offended that Tyrus didn't trust her people - except that Stephen had been right yesterday in the gardens when he'd noted that the Gennii had never trusted them. The Gennii looked at Atlantis Territory with its strong Queen and powerful dark-jewelled males, and feared their ambition, seeing their own reflection in Atlantis.
She studied Sora now. Dressed in a sumptuous blue brocade embroidered with silver dragons, the young Gennii Queen was enjoying the attention of the males in Atlantis, particularly the young aristo males. All through the ballroom, the youths of her escort were similarly engaging the aristo witches of Atlantis.
The household staff had done a magnificent task of decorating the main ballroom with summer garlands and festoons of trailing ivy. Candles gleamed by the hundred in the chandelier, and balls of witchlight hovered just in front of each vase of flowers, illuminating the decorations in front and shadowing the curtained alcove behind.
"Why do you think they brought the four extra males?" John asked.
Elizabeth shot him a look. "Not now, John."
"There wasn't any need for them," he continued, ignoring her. "They're just escorting Sora, not defending against anything. And the older ones aren't even socialising."
The aristo Blood of Atlantis danced, chattered, gossiped, and politicked as though there were no tomorrow. But while the younger Gennii males moved easily enough through the crowd, the older Gennii males remained in their own group, aloof and apart.
They'd once been close allies with Atlantis, but when the male council took over, Lady Melia had refused to directly trade with anyone but the Province Queens. Elizabeth had chosen to deal with the male council as minimally as possible, but all the trade agreements held between Atlantis and Gennii Territories were directed through the Province Queens in the absence of a Territory Queen.
Elizabeth had made it quite clear that this would be the case until a Queen ruled Gennii Territory again.
Within a couple of years, Gennii Territory would have its Queen - one with Jewels dark enough to command the allegiance of the Province Queens, and possibly with enough knowledge of how a Queen's court should be run that Gennii society wouldn't descend into a gender war between witches and Blood males: the sexes fighting for dominance.
Sora was the main reason Elizabeth had kept the minimal contact with the male council. "The older ones won't matter in two years time," she told him. "When Sora makes the Offering to the Darkness..."
"She has to be intact to claim her adult strength," John reminded her.
"I hope you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting."
When he didn't answer within a few minutes, she narrowed her eyes at him. "John..."
He held out his hand. "I feel like a turn on the dancing floor."
Elizabeth studied him, narrow-eyed. "You don't dance."
The hazel gaze flashed intently. "I do tonight."
She could turn him down, but their conversation wasn't finished. And John was her First Escort; Elizabeth had neither the desire nor the intention to make a scene in the middle of her own party. So she settled her hand lightly atop his, and tilted her head in challenge and question.
"Was this supposed to be a distraction?" She asked when they'd done a full turn of the room and he hadn't said anything further. "Because I can tell you now that it's not going to work."
"Most of the males in the court would be willing--"
"And if Sora's not willing?"
"All you have to do is suggest it to her."
She stared at him. "John, I am not going to suggest to Sora that she have her Virgin Night here in Atlantis."
"She'd come out of it intact."
"And would you be offering to see her through it?" Her question was slightly spiteful; she knew exactly what was prompting his suggestions - and it wasn't lust.
"If I had to," he snapped. "Elizabeth, this is a Queen we're talking about. You know the only reason they've let Sora get this old without breaking her is because Kolya, Tyrus, and Cowen believe they have her firmly under their thumb."
"You don't think they do."
"Neither do you," he said and he held her gaze as they spun around. "Or you wouldn't keep inviting her back to Atlantis."
He was right. Sora as a little girl had been pathetically pleased to have a Queen visit her that first time, and emulated Elizabeth all the way down to a fake Green Jewel around her throat. A year later when she came to Atlantis with her entourage, she wore Birthright Purple-Dusk and was considerably more grown-up - a young lady, only too aware of her status as Jewelled Blood.
With the Purple-Dusk as her Birthright Jewel, she might descend as far as the Sapphire when she made the Offering. That would put her at equal strength to Kolya, although she was a Queen and he was just a Warlord Prince.
And something in Elizabeth kept hoping that Sora had seen enough of Atlantis Territory and the way a court should work so that, when the time came for her to take up court...
Not that her court was perfect by a long shot, Elizabeth admitted. But the emotional leashes on the Blood males held, and witches didn't have to walk in fear. There was balance and passion, delight and appreciation, and the interplay between Queen and the court who served her.
Sora was intelligent enough to pick that up. Whether the males in Gennii Territory would understand that balance was a different matter. Still, once Sora had made the Offering, Elizabeth hoped the girl, although young, would be strong enough to take back the Territory that her guardians had fractured with their power-plays.
Maybe Ronan Dex would be part of that.
A glance back to where Sora had been speaking with Ronan showed him now standing alone. His eyes met hers, and she felt the warmth of them slide down her spine, even as John turned her through the next set.
His eyes flickered over her shoulder to where she'd just been watching, and a smile grew on his lips. "You're interested."
"He's not." The reply tripped off her tongue easily.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," said John, leaning in a little. "He's watching us very closely."
Elizabeth didn't look. "It might just be another challenge at you."
He smiled across at her, handsome features even more attractive with amusement. "You didn't deny that you're interested."
She didn't explain that there was no point in denial. Teyla had caught on fast enough; whether or not she had shared that information with John was a moot point - John would have realised it soon enough on his own.
"Did you offer him a place in the court?" Hazel eyes studied her sharply. "Did he turn it down?" She felt a flash of anger, a glint of light in the Sapphire Jewel he wore at his throat.
Elizabeth shook her head, pressing her fingers lightly against him in warning. "What passed between us was private," she reminded him. "I'm not going to tell you."
"But you're going to let him walk away."
"I thought you wanted Sora to have a strong court."
"I'd rather she was a strong Queen," he muttered.
"Even a strong Queen can be undermined by the males of her court if they don't understand the checks and balances, John."
He looked at her. "This is the first time you've responded to a male like that since--"
"--Simon. I know." Elizabeth took a deep breath and exhaled gently. "Teyla already pointed that out to me."
The lazy smile on his lips broadened into smugness, and she gently pricked her nails though his evening jacket and shirt.
"Ow!"
"Don't you say anything."
"Did it look like I was saying anything?" John scowled at her. "Look, I'm not saying you have to insist Sora have her Virgin Night here. But you could at least suggest it."
"I'm not going to suggest it, John."
"Elizabeth..."
"Drop the topic, Prince. Both of them."
John heard the warning in her voice and didn't speak again. But beneath her hand, his shoulder was stiff and proud.
It wasn't that she wanted Sora broken. It was just that there was no way to suggest to Sora that she have her Virgin Night here without implicitly insulting the Gennii. Sora might be aware of the difficulties presented by her Territory, but she had a certain pride in her Territory and her people - as was fitting for a Queen. And Elizabeth wouldn't undermine that pride - without it, Sora wouldn't be the right Queen for her people and her Territory.
Without it, Sora wouldn't be the right Queen for Ronan to serve.
Elizabeth was careful not to let her eyes return to the corner of the room where Ronan Dex stood.
He was his own man for the first time in seven years. Free to choose where he'd take his service. He wasn't bound to Elizabeth's court; he wasn't subject to her will.
She sighed. Even the man she was dancing with might be subject to her will, but he had his own nature to placate. Certainly there were enough times when he'd gone against her will, trusting his own judgement in his need to protect her and the others of her First Circle.
She might be John's Queen, but she could only rein him in when he was willing to be led. That was the way of all Warlord Princes. They could be leashed by violence or leashed with love.
And it looked like the leash Ronan Dex wanted would be held by Sora of the Gennii.
Elizabeth held onto her emotions with great care. Hadn't she told Teyla that he owed her nothing? She couldn't collect on a debt she'd already negated. And he deserved to be allowed to choose for himself.
The choice of service was as much the male's right as the Queen's decision.
When they were fifteen, she'd been infuriated at John for chasing off a lighter-Jewelled boy in whom she'd been interested. She'd told him that no Queen would want a Warlord Prince that was so high-handed with her life. He'd scoffed that Warlord Princes had the right to be high-handed with the life of their Queen. That was what service entailed. "We choose to serve you, Elizabeth, not the other way around."
She'd sulked for a whole two days after that.
The musicians finished with a flourish and the waltz ended, and John arched a brow as he bowed to her. "So, who did you want to talk to now?"
"Teyla's talking with Halling by the windows," Elizabeth said. "I'd like a word."
As John led her off the floor, Elizabeth sighed. Generally, she wasn't fond of parties, finding them too crowded and busy. However, there were certain expectations of a Territory Queen, among them, that parties would be thrown, dinners attended, and ceremony observed.
That didn't mean she had to like them.
"Relax," John murmured. "Another three hours, four at the most, and we're done."
They moved through the crowds, greeting the aristo Blood of Atlantis one by one until they reached the window embrasure and the two who spoke there.
Halling was a Warlord who wore Purple-Dusk Jewels and came from the village of Athos in the south of Atlantis - the same village from which Teyla had come. He was telling her of his son, Jinto, who'd just gone through the Birthright ceremony and come out with an Opal Jewel. There was pride in their voices, an easy affection. It was through Teyla that Halling and Jinto had become known to the Atlantis court.
"His mother would be proud of him," Teyla was saying. "Is he excited?"
"Oh, yes," said Halling. He glanced at Elizabeth and John as they joined the talking pair. "He tells me that he will someday wear a Sapphire Jewel like Prince Sheppard here."
"A good Jewel to wear," John said, smiling. "Tell him that when he's sixteen, I'll sponsor him through formal court training."
Halling looked both gratified and anxious. "Prince Sheppard, I could not-- We could not impose--"
"The realm will always need more strong Warlord Princes, Halling," Elizabeth reminded him. "Jinto might serve in a Queen's First Circle when he's older."
"We never dreamed--" The Athosian paused as Teyla shifted, catching his eye. He smiled. "I thank you, Lady Elizabeth, Prince Sheppard. Jinto will be very pleased."
Elizabeth drew Teyla away with brief apologies, leaving the two males talking - probably about Jinto, who was a favourite of John's.
"I believe Jinto's excitement at being trained at your court will overshadow any excitement he has at wearing Birthright Opal," Teyla said, smiling.
"Court training is eight years away," Elizabeth replied. "He'll have all that time to become accustomed to the idea." * I have to talk to you about the Gennii.*
Teyla didn't betray any surprise at being contacted on a psychic thread. "You will need at least a couple of years to prepare yourself for the influx of Athosians who will wish to train here at your court." *You have particular concerns?*
Elizabeth winced. It hadn't occurred to her that more of the Athosian children might want to get their training in the Atlantis court. One more thing to think about. "Do you think there'll be many?" *Nothing more specific than why they felt the need for four more guards. John is right. The extra four are unnecessary.*
"Only all of them," Teyla laughed. "I fear John is something of a hero among the children." *They have not indicated or hinted why they felt the need for more escorts. I have not asked. Would you like me to do so?*
She nodded, glancing back at John and Halling where they were discussing tactics against the Wraith. "Little surprise there," she murmured. "Boys need heroes." *No. But...keep your eyes and ears open around them. They've always responded to you better than to me.*
"And John is more of a hero than most." Teyla said the words easily enough, and Elizabeth couldn't resist a small psychic prod.
*Have you told him that to his face?*
The look she received was amused. *He already knows it.*
Maybe he did. But it wouldn't hurt John to hear it from Teyla.
She didn't say it. Stephen and Carson had both advised her against interfering in John's life. You're his Queen, Stephen had said. You rule his life - you don't meddle with it.
Teyla was watching something behind Elizabeth, a growing laughter in her expression. Elizabeth turned to see what the other woman found so entertaining--
And found herself nearly nose-to-collarbone with Ronan Dex.
She took a step back and tried to ignore the sudden pulse of blood in her body. "Prince Dex."
"Lady Elizabeth." He glanced at Teyla. "Lady Emmagen."
Teyla, traitor that she was, nodded at him once, met Elizabeth's gaze, then turned on her heel without a further word and went back to where John and Halling were still talking.
Elizabeth saw John's lift of the eyebrow and sighed.
"I'm missing something." It wasn't quite a question.
"No, nothing."
He eyed her, from the low neck of her dress to the colour rising in her cheeks, and she hastily asked. "Lady Sora seemed entertained by your company, earlier."
One broad shoulder lifted in a shrug as he turned his head to look out at the dance floor. "She doesn't get much attention in her Territory."
Elizabeth blinked, focusing on the lines of his face, on the tattoo at his throat. "She told you that?"
"No," he said immediately, and looked down at her. "But it's obvious enough."
To avoid his eyes, Elizabeth looked out over the candlelit crowds, falling on the distinctive red curls of the young Queen. The young woman was dancing in the arms of Aiden, and if she'd been smiling at Prince Dex before, she was openly laughing at whatever it was Aiden was telling her.
She could see why the young Queen might appeal to the jaded Warlord Prince whose eyes she could still feel on her. Sora was still not old enough to have given in to the cruelties that she might otherwise have been shown; with her own wisdom, but seeking a strong, mature male whom she could trust to protect and serve.
Elizabeth kept a tight hold on the spark of jealousy that threatened to take to flame. The man standing beside her wasn't of her court. She had no claim on him and she didn't want a claim on him.
Liar.
"Dance?"
She could refuse the invitation. She was tempted to refuse - why play with fire? The warmth of his skin was already too close; she could feel him mere inches away from her. Pressed up against him, her senses would have no resistance.
Elizabeth lifted her chin and met his eyes, about to decline.
Something in his expression stopped her. A hint of vulnerability, of hunger - a need that she couldn't quite ignore. It pulled too hard at who and what she was.
Our society is a balance of trust, Elizabeth, her mother had told her when she was eight. They give their lives into the hands of a woman, and she gives them her protection and care. They need us more than we need them - the male gender needs to serve the female: it's incised in their soul in granite. More than anything, the Queens and their courts exemplify the core of the Blood: service with honour, trust with protection, nurturing with love. Destroy that and we destroy each other.
So she held out her arm, and he slipped his hand beneath hers and led her out to the floor.
*I still say he'd be wasted in the court of anything less than a Province Queen,* Teyla said to her on a Red distaff thread.
Elizabeth ignored her friend.
She was too busy reminding herself to breathe.
The dance was another waltz, slow and easy, and she cursed the timing. If he'd asked her for a dance only a little earlier or a little later, she would have been safely distant in a formal court dance.
With one hand in his and the hot sweep of his arm around her waist, her body kept reminding her of their encounter out in the gardens the other day. It was difficult to forget.
She shouldn't have responded to him that way, shouldn't have let him get as far as he did.
She shouldn't be dancing with him now.
He moved with the grace of a dancer - or a warrior. He knew his body, knew the moves; the expression in his eyes as he watched her said he knew her.
Elizabeth looked away, a flush staining her cheeks. She'd lived with distinctive males all her life - John, Rodney, Carson, Stephen - but with each of them she'd been properly introduced or been given the time to get to know them. There'd been space in which to see them as Blood males, as individuals, as friends before deciding whether she wished to let attraction grow.
She wished she'd been given the chance to properly meet Ronan Dex. Maybe things would have been different.
"So, are you considering service to Lady Sora?"
His expression never changed. "Considering it. She's young. She could do with a male loyal to her and not to his own ambition."
"You wouldn't mind Gennii Territory?"
"Never been there." He tilted his head at her. "Should I mind Gennii Territory?"
Elizabeth looked away.
She thought of the broken witches she'd met, who'd eyed her males with plain wariness; she thought of the smooth smiles and polite words of the male council, of the distrust between the genders, rapidly turning into the stalemate between witches and Blood males where neither trusted the other.
Ronan had seen enough of that in Belka Territory.
He repeated the question. "Should I mind Gennii Territory?"
This time, she held the long-lashed, dark gaze that rested on her. "I don't know," she told him. "I think you can make up your own mind on that point."
His features softened a little, although his tone was gently mocking. "It's not Atlantis?"
"There's only one Atlantis."
"You were born here?"
"Born and bred. Lady Melia - the previous Queen - was my grandmother's sister." Elizabeth had grown up in Atlantis court, aware that she was the most likely choice for next Queen and appropriately deferred to because of her caste and Jewel rank.
"Keeping the Territory in the family?"
She looked at him sharply. "Keeping the Territory in the hands of the strongest Queen."
"Which is you."
"So far, yes." She met his gaze, deflected the topic. "Sora will be a strong Queen once she makes the Offering."
It had been meant as a reassurance, but Ronan's expression closed up. "If she survives her Virgin Night."
"Many witches do."
"Not in Belka Territory."
"Things are different here."
"And in Gennii Territory?"
She looked away.
The silence was still and cold. When he spoke again his voice was soft. "Is that why you warned me about the Gennii?"
Elizabeth looked up. He was watching her with a hawk's gaze. "I didn't say anything."
"You didn't have to. Your expression said it all."
Elizabeth would have liked to tell him that he was better off in Atlantis. She didn't because she didn't know how much of it would be motivated by the desire to keep Ronan Dex in Atlantis, to keep him in her court. And in the end, he had the right to choose.
"She will need a strong court," she said at last. "You could be part of that."
"In a Territory that would think nothing of breaking its Queen?" Darkness help her, she shouldn't have said anything, should have reassured him. He was a Warlord Prince, and at this proximity she could feel the anger vibrating through him, a thrumming storm building at the Red.
The fingers of her left hand slipped around his, the briefest of caresses to calm him, stabilise him. She wasn't prepared for her own instant response to the contact with the warm roughness of his skin, swiftly damped down before he received even a hint of it. Still, at least he calmed a little, drew back from the edge of cold anger.
"Sora knows the old ways," Elizabeth said, trying to reassure him. "As do many of the Gennii."
"Just not the males around her?"
"Which is why she needs at least one she can trust."
The hand at her waist pressed her closer, "And you think she can trust me?"
"I know she can." She held his gaze. After a moment, he was the one to look away.
The rest of the dance was conducted in nerve-tearing silence. And, at the end of it, Ronan brushed his lips across her fingertips, bowed, and walked back to Sora of the Gennii.
His choice. Her loss.
--
to Part Nine
SUMMARY: His choice. Her loss.
PAIRING: Ronan/Weir, implied Sheppard/Teyla
RATING: R
NOTES: Okay, in the grand scheme of this story, I am one scene short of a finish - about 3000 words. In posting terms, that means there are about another eight or nine chapters still to post. There's some history in this part, a lot of John&Elizabeth interaction, Teyla teases Liz and Liz prods Teyla, I bring in assorted guest characters and we're all happy campers. Okay, so maybe not so much.
Part Seven
To Serve A Queen - Part Eight
"Tyrus isn't enjoying Prince Dex's courtesies to Sora," John observed in a quiet moment during the evening party.
Elizabeth shifted her shoulders a little, not entirely comfortable with the dress, the gathering, or the sight of the tall, dark Warlord Prince talking easily to the Gennii Queen. Two days of the Gennii visit and that had become a common occurrence. Now, if only she could innure herself to the sight of it.
"That's not surprising," she said. "Remember my father when we were in Cheyanne Territory?"
"Of course," John said. "I remember your father in all his moods. Especially when he was annoyed - usually because you'd led Rodney and I on one of your escapades and we got in trouble for it."
Elizabeth nodded at another aristo couple who passed her and John. A nod without a warm smile of pleasure meant 'don't approach me, I'm having a private conversation with my First Escort.'
She snorted softly. "That was a long time ago."
"Only as long ago as the the tour," he pointed out. "And your father was watchful of the boys in the other Territories, but he wasn't hostile."
True. But then her father had trusted her judgement - and the abilities of the Queen in those Territories to rein in their males.
She supposed she should be offended that Tyrus didn't trust her people - except that Stephen had been right yesterday in the gardens when he'd noted that the Gennii had never trusted them. The Gennii looked at Atlantis Territory with its strong Queen and powerful dark-jewelled males, and feared their ambition, seeing their own reflection in Atlantis.
She studied Sora now. Dressed in a sumptuous blue brocade embroidered with silver dragons, the young Gennii Queen was enjoying the attention of the males in Atlantis, particularly the young aristo males. All through the ballroom, the youths of her escort were similarly engaging the aristo witches of Atlantis.
The household staff had done a magnificent task of decorating the main ballroom with summer garlands and festoons of trailing ivy. Candles gleamed by the hundred in the chandelier, and balls of witchlight hovered just in front of each vase of flowers, illuminating the decorations in front and shadowing the curtained alcove behind.
"Why do you think they brought the four extra males?" John asked.
Elizabeth shot him a look. "Not now, John."
"There wasn't any need for them," he continued, ignoring her. "They're just escorting Sora, not defending against anything. And the older ones aren't even socialising."
The aristo Blood of Atlantis danced, chattered, gossiped, and politicked as though there were no tomorrow. But while the younger Gennii males moved easily enough through the crowd, the older Gennii males remained in their own group, aloof and apart.
They'd once been close allies with Atlantis, but when the male council took over, Lady Melia had refused to directly trade with anyone but the Province Queens. Elizabeth had chosen to deal with the male council as minimally as possible, but all the trade agreements held between Atlantis and Gennii Territories were directed through the Province Queens in the absence of a Territory Queen.
Elizabeth had made it quite clear that this would be the case until a Queen ruled Gennii Territory again.
Within a couple of years, Gennii Territory would have its Queen - one with Jewels dark enough to command the allegiance of the Province Queens, and possibly with enough knowledge of how a Queen's court should be run that Gennii society wouldn't descend into a gender war between witches and Blood males: the sexes fighting for dominance.
Sora was the main reason Elizabeth had kept the minimal contact with the male council. "The older ones won't matter in two years time," she told him. "When Sora makes the Offering to the Darkness..."
"She has to be intact to claim her adult strength," John reminded her.
"I hope you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting."
When he didn't answer within a few minutes, she narrowed her eyes at him. "John..."
He held out his hand. "I feel like a turn on the dancing floor."
Elizabeth studied him, narrow-eyed. "You don't dance."
The hazel gaze flashed intently. "I do tonight."
She could turn him down, but their conversation wasn't finished. And John was her First Escort; Elizabeth had neither the desire nor the intention to make a scene in the middle of her own party. So she settled her hand lightly atop his, and tilted her head in challenge and question.
"Was this supposed to be a distraction?" She asked when they'd done a full turn of the room and he hadn't said anything further. "Because I can tell you now that it's not going to work."
"Most of the males in the court would be willing--"
"And if Sora's not willing?"
"All you have to do is suggest it to her."
She stared at him. "John, I am not going to suggest to Sora that she have her Virgin Night here in Atlantis."
"She'd come out of it intact."
"And would you be offering to see her through it?" Her question was slightly spiteful; she knew exactly what was prompting his suggestions - and it wasn't lust.
"If I had to," he snapped. "Elizabeth, this is a Queen we're talking about. You know the only reason they've let Sora get this old without breaking her is because Kolya, Tyrus, and Cowen believe they have her firmly under their thumb."
"You don't think they do."
"Neither do you," he said and he held her gaze as they spun around. "Or you wouldn't keep inviting her back to Atlantis."
He was right. Sora as a little girl had been pathetically pleased to have a Queen visit her that first time, and emulated Elizabeth all the way down to a fake Green Jewel around her throat. A year later when she came to Atlantis with her entourage, she wore Birthright Purple-Dusk and was considerably more grown-up - a young lady, only too aware of her status as Jewelled Blood.
With the Purple-Dusk as her Birthright Jewel, she might descend as far as the Sapphire when she made the Offering. That would put her at equal strength to Kolya, although she was a Queen and he was just a Warlord Prince.
And something in Elizabeth kept hoping that Sora had seen enough of Atlantis Territory and the way a court should work so that, when the time came for her to take up court...
Not that her court was perfect by a long shot, Elizabeth admitted. But the emotional leashes on the Blood males held, and witches didn't have to walk in fear. There was balance and passion, delight and appreciation, and the interplay between Queen and the court who served her.
Sora was intelligent enough to pick that up. Whether the males in Gennii Territory would understand that balance was a different matter. Still, once Sora had made the Offering, Elizabeth hoped the girl, although young, would be strong enough to take back the Territory that her guardians had fractured with their power-plays.
Maybe Ronan Dex would be part of that.
A glance back to where Sora had been speaking with Ronan showed him now standing alone. His eyes met hers, and she felt the warmth of them slide down her spine, even as John turned her through the next set.
His eyes flickered over her shoulder to where she'd just been watching, and a smile grew on his lips. "You're interested."
"He's not." The reply tripped off her tongue easily.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," said John, leaning in a little. "He's watching us very closely."
Elizabeth didn't look. "It might just be another challenge at you."
He smiled across at her, handsome features even more attractive with amusement. "You didn't deny that you're interested."
She didn't explain that there was no point in denial. Teyla had caught on fast enough; whether or not she had shared that information with John was a moot point - John would have realised it soon enough on his own.
"Did you offer him a place in the court?" Hazel eyes studied her sharply. "Did he turn it down?" She felt a flash of anger, a glint of light in the Sapphire Jewel he wore at his throat.
Elizabeth shook her head, pressing her fingers lightly against him in warning. "What passed between us was private," she reminded him. "I'm not going to tell you."
"But you're going to let him walk away."
"I thought you wanted Sora to have a strong court."
"I'd rather she was a strong Queen," he muttered.
"Even a strong Queen can be undermined by the males of her court if they don't understand the checks and balances, John."
He looked at her. "This is the first time you've responded to a male like that since--"
"--Simon. I know." Elizabeth took a deep breath and exhaled gently. "Teyla already pointed that out to me."
The lazy smile on his lips broadened into smugness, and she gently pricked her nails though his evening jacket and shirt.
"Ow!"
"Don't you say anything."
"Did it look like I was saying anything?" John scowled at her. "Look, I'm not saying you have to insist Sora have her Virgin Night here. But you could at least suggest it."
"I'm not going to suggest it, John."
"Elizabeth..."
"Drop the topic, Prince. Both of them."
John heard the warning in her voice and didn't speak again. But beneath her hand, his shoulder was stiff and proud.
It wasn't that she wanted Sora broken. It was just that there was no way to suggest to Sora that she have her Virgin Night here without implicitly insulting the Gennii. Sora might be aware of the difficulties presented by her Territory, but she had a certain pride in her Territory and her people - as was fitting for a Queen. And Elizabeth wouldn't undermine that pride - without it, Sora wouldn't be the right Queen for her people and her Territory.
Without it, Sora wouldn't be the right Queen for Ronan to serve.
Elizabeth was careful not to let her eyes return to the corner of the room where Ronan Dex stood.
He was his own man for the first time in seven years. Free to choose where he'd take his service. He wasn't bound to Elizabeth's court; he wasn't subject to her will.
She sighed. Even the man she was dancing with might be subject to her will, but he had his own nature to placate. Certainly there were enough times when he'd gone against her will, trusting his own judgement in his need to protect her and the others of her First Circle.
She might be John's Queen, but she could only rein him in when he was willing to be led. That was the way of all Warlord Princes. They could be leashed by violence or leashed with love.
And it looked like the leash Ronan Dex wanted would be held by Sora of the Gennii.
Elizabeth held onto her emotions with great care. Hadn't she told Teyla that he owed her nothing? She couldn't collect on a debt she'd already negated. And he deserved to be allowed to choose for himself.
The choice of service was as much the male's right as the Queen's decision.
When they were fifteen, she'd been infuriated at John for chasing off a lighter-Jewelled boy in whom she'd been interested. She'd told him that no Queen would want a Warlord Prince that was so high-handed with her life. He'd scoffed that Warlord Princes had the right to be high-handed with the life of their Queen. That was what service entailed. "We choose to serve you, Elizabeth, not the other way around."
She'd sulked for a whole two days after that.
The musicians finished with a flourish and the waltz ended, and John arched a brow as he bowed to her. "So, who did you want to talk to now?"
"Teyla's talking with Halling by the windows," Elizabeth said. "I'd like a word."
As John led her off the floor, Elizabeth sighed. Generally, she wasn't fond of parties, finding them too crowded and busy. However, there were certain expectations of a Territory Queen, among them, that parties would be thrown, dinners attended, and ceremony observed.
That didn't mean she had to like them.
"Relax," John murmured. "Another three hours, four at the most, and we're done."
They moved through the crowds, greeting the aristo Blood of Atlantis one by one until they reached the window embrasure and the two who spoke there.
Halling was a Warlord who wore Purple-Dusk Jewels and came from the village of Athos in the south of Atlantis - the same village from which Teyla had come. He was telling her of his son, Jinto, who'd just gone through the Birthright ceremony and come out with an Opal Jewel. There was pride in their voices, an easy affection. It was through Teyla that Halling and Jinto had become known to the Atlantis court.
"His mother would be proud of him," Teyla was saying. "Is he excited?"
"Oh, yes," said Halling. He glanced at Elizabeth and John as they joined the talking pair. "He tells me that he will someday wear a Sapphire Jewel like Prince Sheppard here."
"A good Jewel to wear," John said, smiling. "Tell him that when he's sixteen, I'll sponsor him through formal court training."
Halling looked both gratified and anxious. "Prince Sheppard, I could not-- We could not impose--"
"The realm will always need more strong Warlord Princes, Halling," Elizabeth reminded him. "Jinto might serve in a Queen's First Circle when he's older."
"We never dreamed--" The Athosian paused as Teyla shifted, catching his eye. He smiled. "I thank you, Lady Elizabeth, Prince Sheppard. Jinto will be very pleased."
Elizabeth drew Teyla away with brief apologies, leaving the two males talking - probably about Jinto, who was a favourite of John's.
"I believe Jinto's excitement at being trained at your court will overshadow any excitement he has at wearing Birthright Opal," Teyla said, smiling.
"Court training is eight years away," Elizabeth replied. "He'll have all that time to become accustomed to the idea." * I have to talk to you about the Gennii.*
Teyla didn't betray any surprise at being contacted on a psychic thread. "You will need at least a couple of years to prepare yourself for the influx of Athosians who will wish to train here at your court." *You have particular concerns?*
Elizabeth winced. It hadn't occurred to her that more of the Athosian children might want to get their training in the Atlantis court. One more thing to think about. "Do you think there'll be many?" *Nothing more specific than why they felt the need for four more guards. John is right. The extra four are unnecessary.*
"Only all of them," Teyla laughed. "I fear John is something of a hero among the children." *They have not indicated or hinted why they felt the need for more escorts. I have not asked. Would you like me to do so?*
She nodded, glancing back at John and Halling where they were discussing tactics against the Wraith. "Little surprise there," she murmured. "Boys need heroes." *No. But...keep your eyes and ears open around them. They've always responded to you better than to me.*
"And John is more of a hero than most." Teyla said the words easily enough, and Elizabeth couldn't resist a small psychic prod.
*Have you told him that to his face?*
The look she received was amused. *He already knows it.*
Maybe he did. But it wouldn't hurt John to hear it from Teyla.
She didn't say it. Stephen and Carson had both advised her against interfering in John's life. You're his Queen, Stephen had said. You rule his life - you don't meddle with it.
Teyla was watching something behind Elizabeth, a growing laughter in her expression. Elizabeth turned to see what the other woman found so entertaining--
And found herself nearly nose-to-collarbone with Ronan Dex.
She took a step back and tried to ignore the sudden pulse of blood in her body. "Prince Dex."
"Lady Elizabeth." He glanced at Teyla. "Lady Emmagen."
Teyla, traitor that she was, nodded at him once, met Elizabeth's gaze, then turned on her heel without a further word and went back to where John and Halling were still talking.
Elizabeth saw John's lift of the eyebrow and sighed.
"I'm missing something." It wasn't quite a question.
"No, nothing."
He eyed her, from the low neck of her dress to the colour rising in her cheeks, and she hastily asked. "Lady Sora seemed entertained by your company, earlier."
One broad shoulder lifted in a shrug as he turned his head to look out at the dance floor. "She doesn't get much attention in her Territory."
Elizabeth blinked, focusing on the lines of his face, on the tattoo at his throat. "She told you that?"
"No," he said immediately, and looked down at her. "But it's obvious enough."
To avoid his eyes, Elizabeth looked out over the candlelit crowds, falling on the distinctive red curls of the young Queen. The young woman was dancing in the arms of Aiden, and if she'd been smiling at Prince Dex before, she was openly laughing at whatever it was Aiden was telling her.
She could see why the young Queen might appeal to the jaded Warlord Prince whose eyes she could still feel on her. Sora was still not old enough to have given in to the cruelties that she might otherwise have been shown; with her own wisdom, but seeking a strong, mature male whom she could trust to protect and serve.
Elizabeth kept a tight hold on the spark of jealousy that threatened to take to flame. The man standing beside her wasn't of her court. She had no claim on him and she didn't want a claim on him.
Liar.
"Dance?"
She could refuse the invitation. She was tempted to refuse - why play with fire? The warmth of his skin was already too close; she could feel him mere inches away from her. Pressed up against him, her senses would have no resistance.
Elizabeth lifted her chin and met his eyes, about to decline.
Something in his expression stopped her. A hint of vulnerability, of hunger - a need that she couldn't quite ignore. It pulled too hard at who and what she was.
Our society is a balance of trust, Elizabeth, her mother had told her when she was eight. They give their lives into the hands of a woman, and she gives them her protection and care. They need us more than we need them - the male gender needs to serve the female: it's incised in their soul in granite. More than anything, the Queens and their courts exemplify the core of the Blood: service with honour, trust with protection, nurturing with love. Destroy that and we destroy each other.
So she held out her arm, and he slipped his hand beneath hers and led her out to the floor.
*I still say he'd be wasted in the court of anything less than a Province Queen,* Teyla said to her on a Red distaff thread.
Elizabeth ignored her friend.
She was too busy reminding herself to breathe.
The dance was another waltz, slow and easy, and she cursed the timing. If he'd asked her for a dance only a little earlier or a little later, she would have been safely distant in a formal court dance.
With one hand in his and the hot sweep of his arm around her waist, her body kept reminding her of their encounter out in the gardens the other day. It was difficult to forget.
She shouldn't have responded to him that way, shouldn't have let him get as far as he did.
She shouldn't be dancing with him now.
He moved with the grace of a dancer - or a warrior. He knew his body, knew the moves; the expression in his eyes as he watched her said he knew her.
Elizabeth looked away, a flush staining her cheeks. She'd lived with distinctive males all her life - John, Rodney, Carson, Stephen - but with each of them she'd been properly introduced or been given the time to get to know them. There'd been space in which to see them as Blood males, as individuals, as friends before deciding whether she wished to let attraction grow.
She wished she'd been given the chance to properly meet Ronan Dex. Maybe things would have been different.
"So, are you considering service to Lady Sora?"
His expression never changed. "Considering it. She's young. She could do with a male loyal to her and not to his own ambition."
"You wouldn't mind Gennii Territory?"
"Never been there." He tilted his head at her. "Should I mind Gennii Territory?"
Elizabeth looked away.
She thought of the broken witches she'd met, who'd eyed her males with plain wariness; she thought of the smooth smiles and polite words of the male council, of the distrust between the genders, rapidly turning into the stalemate between witches and Blood males where neither trusted the other.
Ronan had seen enough of that in Belka Territory.
He repeated the question. "Should I mind Gennii Territory?"
This time, she held the long-lashed, dark gaze that rested on her. "I don't know," she told him. "I think you can make up your own mind on that point."
His features softened a little, although his tone was gently mocking. "It's not Atlantis?"
"There's only one Atlantis."
"You were born here?"
"Born and bred. Lady Melia - the previous Queen - was my grandmother's sister." Elizabeth had grown up in Atlantis court, aware that she was the most likely choice for next Queen and appropriately deferred to because of her caste and Jewel rank.
"Keeping the Territory in the family?"
She looked at him sharply. "Keeping the Territory in the hands of the strongest Queen."
"Which is you."
"So far, yes." She met his gaze, deflected the topic. "Sora will be a strong Queen once she makes the Offering."
It had been meant as a reassurance, but Ronan's expression closed up. "If she survives her Virgin Night."
"Many witches do."
"Not in Belka Territory."
"Things are different here."
"And in Gennii Territory?"
She looked away.
The silence was still and cold. When he spoke again his voice was soft. "Is that why you warned me about the Gennii?"
Elizabeth looked up. He was watching her with a hawk's gaze. "I didn't say anything."
"You didn't have to. Your expression said it all."
Elizabeth would have liked to tell him that he was better off in Atlantis. She didn't because she didn't know how much of it would be motivated by the desire to keep Ronan Dex in Atlantis, to keep him in her court. And in the end, he had the right to choose.
"She will need a strong court," she said at last. "You could be part of that."
"In a Territory that would think nothing of breaking its Queen?" Darkness help her, she shouldn't have said anything, should have reassured him. He was a Warlord Prince, and at this proximity she could feel the anger vibrating through him, a thrumming storm building at the Red.
The fingers of her left hand slipped around his, the briefest of caresses to calm him, stabilise him. She wasn't prepared for her own instant response to the contact with the warm roughness of his skin, swiftly damped down before he received even a hint of it. Still, at least he calmed a little, drew back from the edge of cold anger.
"Sora knows the old ways," Elizabeth said, trying to reassure him. "As do many of the Gennii."
"Just not the males around her?"
"Which is why she needs at least one she can trust."
The hand at her waist pressed her closer, "And you think she can trust me?"
"I know she can." She held his gaze. After a moment, he was the one to look away.
The rest of the dance was conducted in nerve-tearing silence. And, at the end of it, Ronan brushed his lips across her fingertips, bowed, and walked back to Sora of the Gennii.
His choice. Her loss.
--
to Part Nine
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Thank U
Nat
Re: Thank U
Re: Thank U
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Would you mind terribly if I rec'ed this over on
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Would I mind if you recced this? Uh...no. Definitely no. In conclusion: no, I wouldn't mind at all! *g*
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More recently, I posted the "first chapter" of a sequel story - although that's probably as much of the sequel as I'm going to write - too many other plotbunnies!
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More...please
Really good story and I ordered the books too, you got me curious.
Nat
Re: More...please
*blushes*
The books are good, but the world depicted can be a touch brutal - and the characters are just a little too too.
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From FSF con
This is strictly not a comment as I have not read the story yet - sorry! Been studying for an exam so I haven't surfed much.
Just wanted to say hi (we met last week at FSF) and I'm the one attending the BOBW.
If you wanna drop me some questions... feel free to email me at mcalex22@hotmail.com or visit my LJ at:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/mcalex22/14579.html#cutid1
I've listed some of my questions to ask at the con. Naturally, there seem to be more David Hewlett orientated questions but I'm more than happy for queries to Teryl, David Nykl and Paul.
Take care.
Re: From FSF con
Yay!
Re: Yay!
If.
Re: Yay!
Re: Yay!
Re: Yay!
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i just LOVE this fic *loves on fic* it's just so cool
thou i wouldn't never put liz and ronan together, (i'm a sparky thru and thru...don't hurt me!) i must admit that since reading this series that the thought doesn't disturb me as much. thanks for teh broadening of me horizons! *loves on you* =)
*friend you* is that ok?
kthaxbye!
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